Consumer Safety Bill Bans Lead from Toys

Posted By
The Gilbert Law Group

On Thursday, US President Bush signed a consumer safety bill that prohibits
lead—except for the smallest levels—in products made for kids
12 years of age and under. The measure, formally called the Consumer Product
Safety Improvement Act of 2008, also bans chemical phthalates from children’s products.
The bill, which received overwhelming support in both the US House and
Senate, addresses the concern that toys and other kids’ products
can be dangerous. This worry reached new heights last year when over 45
million children’s products, many of them made in China, were recalled.
High levels of lead in the paint used on many of the products was one
of the reasons for many of the recalls.

The new law will allow for widespread reforms that will force product
manufacturers and retailers to exercise greater safety precautions when
making and selling products—especially those that are for children.
The legislation mandates that infant products and toys undergo testing
before they are sold, authorizes the creation of the first public consumer
complaint database, increases civil penalties for those that violate Consumer
Product Safety Commission laws, and offers protection to whistleblowers.
The CPSC, which came under fire last year over its failure to monitor
toys imported into the country from abroad, will have an opportunity to
do a more thorough job. The new legislation double’s the CPSC’s
budget to $136 million by 2014 and gives it new authorities for supervising
testing procedures and punishing violators.
According to the CPSC, over 33 million people sustained injuries last
year because of contact with an unsafe product. Some 28,000 million people
die each year in the United States alone because of products that are
defective or unsafe for use.
Throughout the United States, our children’s products liability
law firm represents families whose sons and daughters have been injured
or killed because a toy or another product was defective or hazardous.
Our defective products lawyers are committed to protecting our clients’
legal rights and making sure that they receive compensation for all damages
that they are owed. Our product safety law firm has gone up against some
of the largest manufacturers in the world and won.
Bush Signs Consumer Safety Bill, ConsumerAffairs.com, August 14, 2008
Not toying around: Congress OKs bill to ban chemicals in some products,
USA Today, August 1, 2008
Related Web Resources: Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, CPSC.gov (PDF)
Recalls